Anna Banti (1895–1985)

Banti's historical fiction about the Renaissance painter Artemisia Gentileschi is a wonderfully creative take on the genre, being both biographical (of Banti's house fire which destroyed her original writings) and fictional novel (of Artimisia's personal journeys as a painter in Italy and England). The story of the artist is enthralling, but it is brought to life through Banti's creative feminist narrative on a woman operating in, and excelling in, a man's world (something Banti shares with show more her subject). show less

I had to attempt to read this for my Women's Studies class. I was not a fan of the changing narrator and shifts in time. Thankfully we're done with it and moving on in class.

Biography
Anna Banti was born in Florence in 1895 as Lucia Lopestri. The family moved to Rome where she met the historian and art critic Roberto Longhi who was her teacher and, later, her husband. She graduated in art history with a thesis on the art writer Marco Boschini. Longhi and Banti founded an art and literary magazine, called Paragone, for which she was the literary editor. Her initial writings were as an art critic and it is only later that she started writing stories and novels. Her show more main theme was on the role of women in society. She died in 1985.

Links
Anna Banti
Anna Banti (in Italian)
Anna Banti (in Italian)
Lopresti, Lucia (pseudonimo Anna Banti) (in Italian)

Bibliography
1937 Itinerario di Paolina
1940 Il Coraggio delle Donne
1941 Sette Lune
1942 Le monache cantano
1947 Artemisia (Artemisia)
1951 Le donne muoiono (stories)
1953 Il bastardo
1954 Allarme sul lago
1957 La monaca di Sciangai (stories)
1960 Corte Savella
1961 La casa piccola
1961 Opinioni
1962 Le mosche d’oro
1963 Campi Elisi (stories)
1965 Matilde Serao show less

Roman, 17. yüzyıl başında yaşamış gerçek bir tarihsel figür olan, resim tarihine geçmiş az sayıdaki kadın ressamdan biri olan Artemisia Gentileschi’nin hayatını konu alır. Banti, sanatçının Roma, Floransa, Napoli ve İngiltere'ye uzanan zorlu yaşam mücadelesini anlatırken, sadece biyografik bir çizgide kalmaz; modernist ve özgün bir üslupla kendi yazar kimliğini de hikâyenin içine dahil eder. Erkeğin egemen olduğu bir sanat dünyasında, yaşadığı büyük show more bir travmaya ve uğradığı haksızlıklara rağmen resim yapma tutkusundan vazgeçmeyen, hem bir kadın hem de bir sanatçı olarak var olma mücadelesi veren Artemisia’nın hikâyesi; kadınlık durumu, sanat ve tarihsel belleğin yeniden inşası üzerine derinlikli bir sorgulamaya dönüşür. show less